This invention relates to an apparatus for bundling items together, and more particularly to an annular piece harness that will bundle wires, rope and the like.
The current art relating to wire harnesses utilizes several arrangements for routing and protecting wires within any environment. For example, one arrangement uses a plastic braid to provide abrasion protection for the wire or cable and a steel shroud to route the wires or cable within a particular environment. This method tends to be very labor intensive and requires a special braiding machine to encapsulate the wires. Another arrangement uses a duct with detachable fingers for retaining wire or cable within the duct and for facilitating the addition of wires to the bundle. A duct cover may then be placed over the entire duct to retain all the wires or cable. Still another arrangement uses an adjustable clip for retaining wires or cable within a duct. The clip is easily attachable and detachable to the duct walls as well as being adjustable on the duct walls.
The wire harness described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,778, entitled xe2x80x9cWire Harness,xe2x80x9d to Hashimoto et al., is confined to using adhesive tape to bundle together shielded wires having opposite ends connected to connectors. The adhesive tape is not reusable if it is desired to remove the shielded wires from the connectors. New adhesive tape would be required to rebundle the shielded wires.
The apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,051,789, entitled xe2x80x9cCorrugated Tube and Wire Harness Having The Tube As A Cover,xe2x80x9d to Kato, is not easily adaptable for use by the general consumer to harness wires from a computer or entertainment center. The bundled wires are housed by a corrugated tube which has two end regions circular in cross-section and a central region elliptical in cross-section. When installed, the central region of the wire harness is positioned on the floor such that the projection perpendicular to the floor by the central region of the tube is reduced and results in the harness requiring less space. The tube includes a resilient expansion slit which allows a wire bundle to be inserted in or removed from the tube. However, the tube must be specifically fabricated for its use because one size does not fit all applications.
The method described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,332,248 B1, entitled xe2x80x9cWire Harness Bounding Method,xe2x80x9d to Daniggelis et al., is elaborate, time consuming and not easily adaptable for use by the general consumer in securing computer wires and the like. The method includes a bundle of wires and a cable tie wherein the cable tie has a strap body and a locking head with first and second strap passages that each have a pawl that locks in the same direction. The strap body is wrapped around at least one of the wires and inserted through the first strap passage. Next the strap body is wrapped around the bundle and inserted through the second strap passage. The strap body is then tightened and the residual strap portion clipped.
Notwithstanding the usefulness of the prior art, they do not provide a simple cost effective means for routing wires or cable in a home or office environment. What is needed is a device that can be easily installed to bundle the wires and the cable together that are ever present in office and home environments because of computers, entertainment centers and the like.
It is an aspect of the present invention to provide a device that easily bundles wires, ropes and cables together and is inexpensive to the consumer.
It is yet another aspect of the present invention to be able to bundle at least two wires and as many as desired in different embodiments of the present invention.
To accomplish these and other aspects of the present invention a harness apparatus includes a structure with a core and at least two arms extending radially from the core with the arms positioned to define the configuration of the harness. The arms are fixedly attached circumferentially around the core with the arms further including a first and second member. The first and second member loop and fixedly join the carrier means. A carrier means is rigidly attached to the arms with the carrier means containing a retention pocket that deforms for approximating the shape and securing an annular piece. Finally, the configuration bundles at least one annular piece.
These and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, the description being used to illustrate the preferred embodiment of the invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.